1. Field of Invention
The present invention generally relates to archery. More particularly, the present invention relates to archery bow sighting devices, commonly referred to as bow sights, and archery bows including these sights.
2. Related Art
Bow sights have been around, in various forms, for many years. An interesting web site devoted to archery is ArcheryHistory.com, which shows a history of bow sights and other archery accessories. Basically, a bow sight may be described as a device that an archer uses to aim a bow and arrow at a target, which may be a live target or a practice target. Typically, a bow sight consists of a platform that is connected to the side of the bow, and its purpose is to support one or more sight-pins. These sight-pins are what the archer actually aligns with the target to aim his bow. A representative example is illustrated in FIG. 1, illustrating how an archer might view a target, in this case a deer 2 illustrated in phantom, through a conventional bow sight 4 having six sight pins 6. Sight pins, as the name implies, are simply pins or studs. At the ends of pins 6 are points 8, which may be dots or cross hairs. The archer uses the sight pins to “sight-in” his bow. He does this by placing these objects in direct alignment between his eye and the desired target. The sight pins are not easily removed from the line of vision, and are fixed in the positions shown, either by attachment to a bracket 10 that is part of the bow, or to a sight pin guard 12. It is also common to have one or more level gauges 14, 16.
Most archers use more than one sight pin on their bow sight. This multiple pin configuration is necessary, due to the arcing trajectory of the flight of an arrow. For example, if the archer were to “sight-in” his bow with one pin set to be on target at a distance of 20 yards, he would need another pin to be set for a 30 yard target, and another one for 40 yards, and so on. As a result, the majority of the bow sights that are used by archers today (such as illustrated in FIG. 1) carry multiple sight pins that lie in the same plane between the archer's eye and the target. However, it is this very arrangement that creates an aiming problem, in that, the very pins that are used to aim at the target, also restrict the archer's view of the target. The level sight gauges may also partially interfere with the view of the target. While there are other bow sights on the market using one sight pin, they do not allow the archer the flexibility to easily and quickly change between sight pins for different distances.
Other inventors have attempted to solve this problem, but with limited success. It would be a positive advance in archery if the archer's view of the desired target might be increased during shooting without losing the ability to sight-in the bow for different target ranges. It would also be an advance in archery if a bow sight could be designed to allow the archer to change between sight pins easily and quickly.